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What's the little pod on the top? Camera portal?
10 months agoGreat sky!
10 months agoI’m glad you made it okay! That’s a long ride to do after the flight, especially in bad weather.
10 months agoI’m sure there is some sort of market for velomobile rental. At one point there was a dealer in Switzerland offering rentals. The challenges renting would be first the price to acquire a rental fleet for the dealer. Then there is some learning curve for inexperienced riders. They pick up considerable speed very quickly. There is tip potential when cornering, lower ground clearance than most are used to. If riding bike paths you need to know how to prepare for tight corners so you don’t run out of space. But the biggest drawback is that while you can put a well-built bike through the wringer, a full carbon or fiberglass velomobile does require a certain degree of care to avoid cracks and damage to the shell. My guess is that’s the main reason you don’t see rentals. In my case I’ve been fortunate to be able to turn around and sell the velo i ride on my trip, but I’m fortunate to have connections in the right places. And a prominent velomobile YouTube channel.
10 months agoI think there could be a nice market for renting velos while visiting Europe. I don't suppose that is a publicly offered option?
10 months agoThis Velo stays here. My friend Johann already has a buyer lined up for it. I shipped the one from last year home with me as checked luggage with Lufthansa. Technically you can do it, but I would not do it again. I already have Urban serial #1 at home and will likely sell it on a couple months and get one of the new production models. They’ll be making some excellent improvements based off the info I gather from this trip. While theoretically this is a vacation, it’s just as much sole intensive testing of the new model.
Spoiler: looks like rain is projected every day for the foreseeable future. I may need to dig the foam cover out more often than not. I regret not bringing the remote with for my GoPro.
This is a new veto for you? How does it ship home at the end of the tour?
I'm following along with interest. It's a shame you got wet on your very first ride. But, you got it out of the way!
I may have to wait until I get home to post maps. I don’t think I can link those using my phone. I travel ultralight and won’t have a computer with me. When I was in Südtirol a couple years ago I used the Bikeline Südtirol guidebook to help with route planning. The area from Reschen See to Bozen, down beyond Trento, up to the Brenner Pass, and over to Lienz in Austria is all excellent cycle path. From Brixen to Toblach is largely an uphill battle, but Toblach to Lienz involved almost no pedaling. I do not recommend der Langen Weg der Dolomiten with a recumbent. The dirt trail was sketchy. Everyone else was wisely riding a mountain bike. The main Radwegs are the Etsch and Eisack Radwegs. Paved Converter rail trails. Great riding.
10 months agoI don’t actually like challenges. I would gladly take transport over the passes if a velomobiel would fit. Really I just want to go zoom zoom down some really nice trails with nice scenery. I don’t even like Italy :)
10 months agoBen,
I look forward to following along with you. We rode in Europe for the first time last summer, Spain/Portugal. Our plan is to return and try other regions. I am interested in your mention of paved bike paths in northern Italy. Please include daily maps if at all possible, for those of us who would like to ride in your tracks! I ride an eight foot long Phoenix recumbent - I get the flavor of your mobility issues. But, the ride is so sweet!
M crossing my fingers that you get good weather!
10 months agoYou really like challenges! I used to like to do climbing on my bike but now I prefer it when I’m hiking. I hope all goes well for you.
10 months agoYes. So the section between Laas and Goeflan. Pretty spot. I went through there both coming and going a couple years ago. Conditions must vary based on rainfall. It wasn't bad when I went through. I've ridden much worse spots. For instance some of the designated trail north of Brixen which was hike-a-bike quality trail. Your bearings/hub may have been on their last legs. MTBs take awfully hard hits and keep on ticking. Unless the parts spec'ed in your tandem were awfully cheap parts, a step down like that shouldn't have broken anything. Due to ground clearance I end up picking up the velo over transitions like that. Thanks for the warning. I'll be extra careful in that section, assuming it is passable after all the projected rain.
10 months agoHi Ben - I’m pretty sure we were on the right route but I’m never 100 percent sure about anything. Here’s a link to our journal entry for that day. https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/courageuxalps/day-7-glurns-to-meran-abandon-at-goflan/
The part of the path I’m referring to is at the end of the ridewithgps map. We walked and coasted the last few km with a broken rear hub.
I’ll let you judge how best to take our experience into account.
You can do the map upload with your phone, if you're patient. Rather than opening the RWGPS app, open the website. The Share option there includes the Get Custom Embed feature.
10 months agoOn my phone it's a bit of a hassle to select the embed code then copy it, but it can be done. Don't expect the map, or pretty much anything else, to be actually usable during this process: there just isn't enough screen real estate on a phone for RWGPS to do what it needs to do, but the embed code is accessible.